KEY POINTS:
How would you feel if you heard that one of the bosses' sons was joining the business where you were the star performer? V8 Supercar driver Jason Richards knows the feeling.
Since 2004, he has been the leading driver for Tasman Motorsport in the Australian V8 Supercar championship. Next season, he will have fellow Kiwi Greg Murphy, son of Kevin Murphy, one of the team's founders, as his teammate.
Richards admits he had some doubts but now believes it will be a positive move for him, Murphy and the team. "I'm really looking forward to being paired up with Greg," Richards said in Auckland yesterday. "It will be a chance for me to benchmark myself against the best in the business.
"Andy Jones, my teammate this season, is a great bloke but I outqualified him at every round. Greg's going to beat me sometimes and I'm going to beat him and, hopefully, that will propel the team in the championship.
"Anybody would have been a bit concerned in the circumstances and I admit I was. But I sat down with Kevin and Greg and Tim Miles [from the management] and there is real professionalism in the team to ensure they have two happy drivers.
"When we started in 2004, I was told Greg would join at some time. I'm proud I've helped to get Tasman to the position where Greg wants to join."
Greg Murphy said his father was one of many people involved in the team's decision-making and the structure meant the father-son relationship would not be a factor.
He was cautious about prospects for the new season. "I'm a realist. This year, I finished in the worst place I've ever been in any of the championships I've contested and it's a big call to turn it around," he said.
"There's only one point in racing - to win the championship. But this is one of the hardest championships in the world and it's so tight I'm not making any predictions."
Kevin Murphy believes Tasman will be well placed in the new season because some of the top teams have had to pull back because of the cap on expenditure, whereas Tasman have had room to expand.
With the move of Team Kiwi to the Ford camp, Tasman are promoting themselves as the all-Kiwi Holden team and are building a presence here with support for Andy Booth in the local V8 championship.
The 14-round Supercar season begins at Adelaide in March. The third round will be at Pukekohe from April 20-22.
